[Red5]

This will be the forth try at getting this tank painted. I've now worked out all mechanical gun related and paint mix issues. Even ready for the bugs. And so I ask about the actual spraying part.

The tank will be gloss black. Using NAPA paint. Base coat clear coat.

OK: When I paint. If I hold the gun closer the tank gets wetter and a deep shine happens. But I risk runs. How important is it that the base coat is shiny and such?


Now for the clear coat. Last time I got it looking Oh So Clear. But when it dried it had run marks.

Do I need to get close to get the wet look? Looking for some advice. I just re-sanded it down to bare metal and re-primed it. About to re-paint tonight.

[astroracer]

The base coat has nothing to do with the final gloss. In fact the base coat will never be shiney after it sets up. The gloss is what the clear coat provides and, whether you are close or not, also has nothing to do with the final gloss. Like you found out getting too close is not good so you need to follow the paint manufactureres guidelines for spraying temps and distances. Straying to far from the guidelines only cause more problems.
The FINAL gloss is acheived through wet sanding and finish polishing of the clear coat. You probably could have wet sanded out the runs you had and finish polished the entire tank to get the gloss back.
This is a pic of my truck that was done two years ago with BC/CC. It was wet sanded with 800 then 1200 grit and hand polished. It has a nice shine...

Mark

[Red5]

That has a VERY nice shine.

OK, So what do these directions mean:

1 Apply 2-3 medium wet coats plus a drop coat.
What is a wet coat and what is a drop coat?

Allow 5 minutes flash time between coats.\\\

Now on the clear coat directions it says:
Apply 2 medium wet cross coats.
What are wet cross coats?

Allow to flash handslick between coats. A Wet on Wet Limited Flash application can be used, allow 2-5 minute flash between coats.

Can you help me make sense of this?

[BondoKing]

You need to read some more here about gun settings and spraying


Setting up your gun

This breaks it down very very well

Matthew